Valencia day 3 am: Spins all round

As Kimi Raikkonen continued to lead the McLaren onslaught at the top of the times ahead of new team mate David Coulthard in second, the morning session was interspersed with several red flags as drivers struggled for grip.

The first car to swap ends was the Williams-BMW of Marc Gene, who was 11th fastest. The Spaniard spun just 45 minutes into the session and had to be towed back to the pits.

Then came synchronised spinning from Renault's Jarno Trulli, who slid off at Turn 8, only to be followed by the Minardi of Alex Yoong. The Malaysian finished the morning a disappointing 14th, 1.2s behind Mateo Bobbi, who was having his second day in an F1 car with the Anglo-Italian team.

While Giancarlo Fisichella kept the momentum going for the Jordan team by notching up the third quickest time of the session, team mate Takuma Sato finished eight and not before he had spun at the fast left-handed Turn 7.

Jarno Trulli then ended his morning after taking to the gravel at the tight downhill Turn 4. The Italian's Renault hit the tyre barrier damaging the front end of his interim B201.

A further interruption came from Eddie Irvine, who continued to struggle in the new Jaguar R3. The Ulsterman stopped out on the track with a broken driveshaft and was a lowly 12th quickest, almost two seconds behind team mate Pedro de la Rosa in sixth place in last year's car.

Antonio Pizzonia was the fastest of the three Williams drivers in fourth spot, while Juan Pablo Montoya was seventh behind Jenson Button and de la Rosa.

Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes M 1m13.159s 43 laps
David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes M 1m13.415 10 laps
Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda B 1m13.954s 41 laps
Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW M 1m14.320s 34 laps
Jenson Button Renault M 1m14.477s 24 laps
Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar M 1m15.594s 27 laps
Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW M 1m14.819 17 laps
Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda B 1m14.958s 48 laps
Jarno Trulli Renault M 1m15.066s 29 laps
Mika Salo Toyota* M 1m15.333s 32 laps
Marc Gene Williams-BMW M 1m15.628 9 laps
Eddie Irvine Jaguar* M 1m16.353s 19 laps
Mateo Bobbi Minardi-European M 1m18.076s 15 laps
Alex Yoong Minardi-European M 1m19.283s 17 laps

M - Michelin
B - Bridgestone
* - 2002 car